TMNT: Mutation
by Lovin'Spoonfuls
Summary: <html><head></head>Alternate Universe- based off of Nickelodeon's 2012 series ,but at the same time it isn't. Short story series with heavy drama and eventual romance. Every day is a new trial, a harsher beginning. Follow April as she tries to come to terms with being a mutant turtle. Eventual, slow building 'Apritello' pairing, possibly with some conflicting 'Raphril' as well. DonniexAprilxRaph?</html>
1. Mutation

_**Author's note: **__A dramatic spin off of the episode to where April falls into the mutagen tank, but in this tale, she is NOT immune. This short story will definitely be A.U. They are just into their first year of being in their 20's, so, they will still have moments of immaturity. Rated "T" (for now) due to language and some adult situations.  
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_**Mutation Part 1**_

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><p>The echo of her scream seared his ears as he swooped down to catch her in mid flight. Sweat vastly forming onto his green skin, making it look as if shimmering glitter had exploded into his pores in reward due to his shocking state of panic- watching almost helplessly with April's soon to be impending doom- instantly rushing, forcing his thicker and darker hand out to her more delicate, paler one as soon as he felt he was close enough to her.<p>

In the pit of his stomach he doubted, for a split second, that he wouldn't make it to her on time.

No, he couldn't let her fall. He wouldn't let himself live with such a mistake if she were to mutate into something unrecognizable- something that may not have the potential, nor the means to be reversed- NO- It was bad enough that there was even one moment in this life without her; where she hated him- blamed him for her father's own mutation.

Not again.

He wouldn't let it.

He finally called out her name in a loud, desperate cry, signaling to her that he was just mere inches above her.

She instinctively reached out to him, her fingers wiggling frantically, willing her own to grasp onto his cooler, leathery ones- her ocean blue pools naturally watering from absolute- and pure fear.

Donatello's face twisted involuntary, his upper teeth clashing down hard- biting his lower lip- instantly drawing blood. The tips of his fingers grazed hers swiftly and for reasons unbeknownst to him, because he thought he had her, she kept on falling. The pads of her delicate digits stinging his own, as she slipped right on through, her screams going several octaves higher than it was before; echoing her anguish throughout the Kraang's warehouse.

Donatello could only stare on, tears already forming an army, burning once they had made their escape from his auburn orbs.

_"ARPIL!"_ He shouted, in the ready to go directly in after her; all the while, his breath was catching, tightening in his throat, his chest heaving up and down, feeling as though someone had struck their hand into it's center and manually ripped his beating heart out.

Just as Donatello made his decent toward the glowing cylinder below, he felt the belt along his waist sporadically restrict against his plastron, and a familiar, deeper green hand had a firm, pulling grasp upon him.

"You can't go in there, ya' Knuckle head!" The rough, deep voice bellowed out to him, making his skin crawl in knowing. Donatello knew that if he were to jump in; the outcome of his actions would have dire consequences.

Raphael had launched on, dragging the purple clad turtle toward the floor below, both of them forcefully landing with a jolt, the two pairs of legs slamming against the stone cold platform before they finally were at a stand still.

Leonardo and Michelangelo could only look on in shock- watching April's dark form float lifelessly inside of the bright, neon green goo, her skin slowly enveloping in nothing but thick, stagnant mutagen.

Leonardo hung his head, words being a total loss to him, his mouth running extremely dry. Michelangelo stood wide-eyed; his freckles seeming to sparkle from the lighting of the warehouse as his mind began reeling in curiosity and wonder.

Of course, he would be the first to break the ice that had filled the room to its very brim.

"Would I, like, be _totally_ a bad friend if- let's say- Oooh, I don't know… That maybe, I sort of hope that April turns into some really cool pizza monster?" Mikey inquired innocently with a small, yet endearing smile that was crawling at a snail's pace, making it's way slowly, but surely across his lighter green, speckled features.

All three of the brothers' turned their attention swiftly, with barely any hesitation over to Michelangelo; every one of their leathered faces supporting expressions of disbelief and disgust.

"Yes, Mikey… That would be very bad." Leo spoke up with a deep, heavy sigh; his thumb and pointer finger pinching the bridge of his squashed nose in frustration, intern, stalling Donnie- for now- to rage an all out war with his more eccentric and outspoken brother. This wasn't a joke to be playing around with. It wasn't a joke at all. It was and still is more of a tragedy for everyone, and it rather upset Donatello that Michelangelo wasn't taking April's accident more seriously.

Mikey simply frowned in disappointment and shrugged, shifting his foot slightly to scrape it delicately against the concrete in a cheeky embarrassment. "Oh… Okay. I was… Ya'know.. Just checkin' is all."

Donatello's lips quickly curled up in anger- but his attention grew elsewhere as his eyes flitted up to the container that now held his redheaded friend, his pupils automatically dilating in sadness for her and it stung to see her lifeless body inside of it.

"Guys.." Donatello's low, hoarse voice rang out, breaking into the silent reverie that floated around his brothers. "This whole montage of pizza monsters is fun 'n' all, but we have got to get April out!" The brown-eyed turtle exclaimed, his voice betraying the seriousness of the situation as it quivered in drowning guilt. He never meant for this to happen. He had meant to catch her. He promised her that he wouldn't let her fall, he betrayed her, and he hated himself for it.

"Well… Let's just break the damn thing open, then." Raphael cut in as he slowly walked himself up to the tank, analyzing it with his cold hard stare. "Shouldn't be too hard to bust into it- looks simple enough."

"Uh, no, genius." The turtle in purple sarcastically spat, his hand gently grazing the tube that held the girl and it's toxic contents inside, his fingers gently outlining her darkened figure. "If we break it open, we risk getting ourselves stuck in the same exact mess that April's in right now." He peeled is sight off the object of his affections and gave Raphael a steely glare. "Didn't you just save my own butt from going in there a few minutes ago? ...Seriously, where's your head at, Raph?!"

Raphael grew severely cold at Donatello's retaliation. His red face mask dramatically creasing as his greener orbs shrank into white, slimming slits of hot fury- his fists clenching in aggravation at his sides, trying his hardest to not broadside his brother into oblivion. "I know where my head's at… The better question is- do you know where my fists are at?" And to prove his point, Raphael slowly lifted one of his larger, stronger hands straight up into Donnie's view. Begging the nerdy peon to make his move.

Just as Donatello was about to rebuttal his hotheaded brother, the natural born leader rushed up in between the two, his disappointment seething through his barred teeth, his cheeks growing unnaturally hot- this was not the time or the place to be getting into an argument over something so pointless and irrelevant. He at least thought Donatello of all turtles would be smarter than that. But, it was too easy and sometimes rather inviting to fall into a squabble when Raphael was involved. He knew this piece of knowledge personally.

"Knock it off- _both_ of you need to calm down." The leader in blue scolded, his arm brushing up against Raph's plastron, the other, pushing Donnie away, keeping him at arms length from himself and the turtle in red.

As the three turtles got more involved into their endless quarrel, Michelangelo figured he'd give it a shot as to how he would get the little red head out; since his brothers' were painstakingly too busy at the moment.

He stepped cautiously at first, not sure of his own self if he should even get close to the bin that held April at all. If memory served him well, and sometimes it did, nothing good usually ever came out of a situation like this; at least, in this line of work that they did on a daily basis. He knew he wasn't the smartest turtle around, but he could also recognize when stupidity was simply stupidity, and in this case, though sometimes rare, Mikey was playing it smart this time instead of giving into the moment. His sight flickered toward April's unmoving form, bubbles popping upward and outward, the sound that it made- made his own stomach churn in disgust, and he couldn't help but finally feel the heavy remorse for his human friend.

His own blue orbs surveyed the damage; wondering what he could possibly come up with that was actually worth speaking out for. Again, anything he usually had come up with in the past had been always spun into harsh judgment and pushed to the sidelines- never to be taken seriously. But, as the gears were turning and shaking on the inside of his head, the thought process he was sputtering and tinkering around with was abruptly cut short, when all of a sudden, movement caught the eccentric turtle by surprise. Fearing the worst in the pit of his stomach, he called out to his three comrades.

"Uh.. Guys?" He hesitated at first, his thoughts going back and forth frantically between the green tinted tube and his three companions, his legs automatically removing himself further and further away from April's newly found revere.

"I told you two to knock it off!" Mikey heard Leo spat, obvious anger rising in his tone.

"Well, he started it!" Donnie's higher pitched voice echoed throughout the warehouse, it doubling in its intensity as it bounced off the walls.

"Guys?" Michelangelo cut in once more, trying desperately to disengage his brothers' heady quarrel- still moving him self further away from the bubbling, mutagen tank.

"Oh yeah, smart ass?! How 'bout I finish it for ya?!" Raph's remark was like ice cutting into stone.

"I swear, that if you two don't start acting your age-"

"GUYS!" Mikey finally scorched out into the air that was so thick that it couldn't even be cut with one of Leo's katana.

**_"WHAT?!"_** All three shouted in unison, now breaking apart their standoff with each other- looking squarely at Mikey- April, being completely forgotten during their long, five-minute disagreement crusade with each other.

"I think the pizza's here." Mikey quipped, pointing to the tank that was starting to crack; lines spiraling in all different directions, etching snowflake like patterns along the sides, small shards of glass spitting all around them, some splicing their skin during its inevitable rainfall.

"Take it to higher ground!" Leonardo shouted out, as all four of them whirled in every direction, Michelangelo and Raphael took to the safety of the rafters while Leonardo grabbed a fallen coiled wire to pull himself up on and taking to the air. Donatello, however, stopped himself short and just stood there, his face plastering desperation for April.

"Donnie!" Raphael called out to him, hoping that it didn't fall on deaf ears. "Don't play a hero- and getcher ass outta there!"

"But… April!" Donnie called back, his chest heaving from being absolutely terrified for her. "I just… I mean.. We just can't_ leave _her there!"

"You need to get to higher ground- NOW DONNIE!" And that was it. Leo's voice couldn't carry over to his purple clad brother.

The barrel of the tank began to groan and moan viciously under its massive weight as it leaned; creaking and piercing a high pitched squeal into the air, coiling the tube, wires snapping; the filtration system exploded, sending nuts, bolts, and screws askew, pinging like tiny needles along the concrete as they hit and landed on their descent. Finally, after it's own battle cry from within, it fell into several pieces, destroying everything in its path, crushing upon itself as it collapsed during its vindictive wake.

Mutagen went flying everywhere- hitting and shattering windows, mutilating the rafters- anything it could grasp its slimly, and toxic hands on- living or not, it still seemed to alter it all- and if anything alive were standing in the way of its flow of vengeance, they would be forever changed just like the warehouse was changing, during the flood by the forceful waves of anger, as it ran steadily through its course- like a temper tantrum coming out from a two year old child.

The three mutants that had found higher ground were now frantically searching for Donnie. But it was hard to see due to all the shimmering green waves of liquid ooze, adhering to every nook and cranny of the warehouse- three sets of eyes flittering and flickering this way and that, hoping Donatello had made it to a safety zone, crossing each finger and toe that the mutagen went untouched by their brother's leathery skin.

"Do ya see 'em?!" Raph shouted out through the noise of mutagen sprawling about all around them. His mind filled to its capacity with guilt from the fight that he and Donnie just had moment's prior.

"No!" Leo shouted back, bowing his body lower to catch a closer look towards the floor. "I can't see anything from where I'm sitting! …Mikey?!"

Michelangelo's blue pools squinted onward, across from the warehouse walls, and his smile deepened. "Over there!" He pointed a thick, green finger against the opposite side of the rafters from where they tightly clung; Donnie, waving at them uncontrollably, making sure that they had saw him safe and sound- untouched by the toxic, green lava below.

The three of them sighed simultaneously in relief, watching as the mutagen had finally made itself scarce, flowing outward into the cracks that surrounded the interior of the older building made of solid steel and crumbling brick.

Slowly, all four of them made their way to the moistened, stone-cold platform; leathery toes, tiptoeing as they each found solid ground, unsure of what they might find within the massive dismay around them.

Mainly, of what had happened to their friend, April.

Donnie swallowed hard, the lump in his throat rising at every moment as he took in a deep, inward breath; his dark eyes scanning the wreckage, his brain working on overdrive, concocting complex formulas for possible damage control once they had found April, who was most certainly hurt and- most likely- unrecognizable.

"Do… Do any of you see her?" The Scientific Genius mumbled out, perspiration tingling his freckled brow, his purple bandana darkening from the natural, salted water. The fear of finding his best friend mutated- and into what- shook him to the core. He wanted to find her, but at the same time, hesitation wavered heavily within his heart.

Silence ensued, Donnie's question going unanswered as four pairs of eyes scanned the warehouse; each one moving in every direction, looking desperately for their lost, human family member.

"Oh, shit." Raphael gasped, running as quickly as he could over to the oozy, green glob that lied lifelessly behind the broken shards of what was left of the mutagen tank, glass acting as a glittering accent against the bulking form that resided there.

The rest of the mutant crew followed in tow, realizing quickly, that Raph had just found her.

Donnie was the first to get as close as he could to the girl who seemed to be voided from any forms of life- his jaw dropping at an extremely fast rate as he fell dramatically to his knees, his head crashing into his leathery hands in pain. A small, but blunt cry curdled from the depths of his throat and all his body could do at that moment was to shake uncontrollably; betraying his _'trying to be strong for everyone'_ façade.

"This is all my fault." He finally croaked out. Leo, who was standing above him, put a comforting hand upon his brother's shoulder, but said nothing. He knew his words of comfort would be useless.

All of them were practically speechless.

"Mikey." Leo finally broke the dead silence, turning toward his younger brother and clearing his throat. "Go get some blankets and towels from the van. We need to wipe all of this stuff off before we can even touch her."

Mikey just stood there, unmoving, his eyes bulging from their sockets.

"Mikey!" The leader in blue scolded, his right hand rising to his hip in exasperation. "Now would be a good time."

"Oh... R-right. Uh... On it." And just like that, Mikey had disappeared into the shadows to where their turtle van had been parked since they had gotten there for what seemed like hours upon many hours ago.

Rushing in as soon as he had left, Mikey was back inside of the warehouse, handing each of his brothers an abundance of towels. Each one working on every single angle of their friend, carefully wiping and rubbing the green ooze off from her unmoving body. Her clothes were ripped and torn, her shirt barely hanging on by the tiniest of threads, the jeans she wore now looked as if someone had carelessly handmade cut-off shorts, each pant leg shredded into pieces strung out all around her- littering the floor.

It only took the four turtles mere seconds to get April clean and clear of all the mutagen that had clung to her.

Donnie's nervous hand jerkily grabbed her own, checking for a pulse, all the while forcing the bile that filtered up into his throat. He wiped his brow with his left hand, which twitched just as bad as his right, sitting as still as he could, wishing, reaching and grasping for a pulse. Looking for any kind of sign that she was still alive.

It seemed like hours had passed, but in reality it was only a minute, when finally, he felt it.

A pulse.

It was weak, but it was there.

And all Donnie could do at that moment was let out a huge sigh of relief as he shakily took her leathery hand into his own, his person and heart still full of fear and regret- mainly, the fear of her never forgiving him.

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><p><strong>To be continued…<strong>

_Please don't hesitate to leave me a sweet little review! I love and adore reading them. 3_

_The Spoon :D_


	2. Foreign

_**Author's note:**_ The "kids" in this fic are all in their twenties. ;)

_**Mutation Part 2**_

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><p>The destination to the lair felt as if all time had virtually stopped and that it took years to get there. All four within the mutant brood remained somber and eerily quiet- neither one of them able, nor strong enough to muster up the nerve to say anything, let alone push out the tiniest ounce of a simplistic sigh.<p>

The reality was that they all feared how their own voices would betray them; leaving them incredibly raw and barren for the taking when it came to their emotions. Saying nothing would mean they could delay what was inevitably coming next, and for now, they felt that it would all come crashing down on them soon enough in its own time.

So, they just kept running on- twisting this way and that through the heavily dimmed tunnels beneath the city of New York- sewer water splashing nonstop at their feet and legs as they ran their breath heaving and gasping, struggling for relief- and they knew most of it wasn't just from being winded, or, exhausted.

As they moved stealthily through each upcoming tunnel, Raphael took a moment and peered down at the bulky blue blanket he cradled tightly in his arms- sniffing up hot waves of air into his nostrils as he lowered his icy cold glare to check in on her- making sure that she was continuing to breath- shallow as it still was. Satisfied with his ministrations of the ginger's vital signs, he pushed himself to run harder; wanting to get April into Donnie's lab as fast as he could so she could get some much needed medical assistance. Silently praying, to whoever created this hell whole of a place they lived in, that Donatello would be able hold his shit together long enough to give April the extensive care she desperately required.

It was bad enough, that he had to volunteer himself to carry April underground- Donnie had quickly refused that position back at the warehouse, the pain etching twice as hard as the sad lines began to develop along side his shortened snout- forcing Raphael to take the lead by lifting her limp form off of the cool concrete floor; Donatello flinching in response with his head hanging dangerously low in despair for his best friend.

The group of four viciously continued down their path of homage, a bright yellowish glow, hindering a few feet away from them as it sang with well-known familiarity and intensity, their hearts beating fast, rhythmically and hard against their firm, plated chests.

This was it.

They were home.

The sound of the metallic door screaming out in agony as they entered signaled to Master Splinter that they had finally arrived home -and hopefully- safe and unharmed by this evening's battle. His ears peaked at the sound and he abruptly rose from his chair; settling his book down onto the small table at his side, and calmly headed toward the direction of the entry way- his footsteps light and stern- holding his authority within the family as his formal walk had always done.

But as he neared the entryway, something inside of Splinter told him that tonight was different. That something had gone terribly wrong- he could feel it flow heavily within his veins and his whiskers twitched in response- the dread pitting itself hard against the bottom of his stomach.

Never the one to stop dead in his tracks due to a feeling such as this, the older and wiser rat continued on, quietly making his final decent into the view of his tutelage- the sight he had brought upon himself caused his eyes to broaden in a way of knowing; the body language that his four children had spat out spoke volumes in its wake- screeching and clawing its way into his more heightened, darker orbs like a wild animal enraged with vengeance towards its hunter.

Splinter rarely showed it, but his heart always sank to his knees every time he saw his family in such a torturous way.

"My sons." Splinter began, his arms naturally folding along his backside- his whiskers twitching uncontrollably once again as he looked on- his expression soft but firm- demanding an explanation.

The deafening sound within the lair was so thick and dense- that if a pin were to drop- nobody would be able to hear it.

"There… There was an accident, Sensei." Leonardo interrupted, automatically lowering his top half toward his master- showing off his sheer discipline and the highest respect he had for his father. The choked voice that exited his lips caused Splinter to move his concentration from the entire group straight into Leonardo. His ears twisting in interest as the oldest of the four spoke.

His brothers, however, continued to stay silent- their stances going noticeably stiff, inching in closer to one another as their leader knifed through the dead quiet- facing his master alone.

Master Splinter brought a steady hand up to his chin; gently massaging and tugging the long hair that it hung from; his eyes slowly growing into mere slits in intrigue as they fixated onto his eldest in blue. "I see."

"It's all my fault. …And it wasn't an accident."

A slender, furry hand of authority quickly rose up to Leo, stopping the conversation between him and his eldest in its tracks as Splinter cautiously moved closer to the entryway of their home- his elongated nose leading the way to where his more soft-spoken son had stood- slightly out of view.

"And if I would have just paid closer attention, did things the way they were supposed to be done, none of this would've ever of happened." Donatello could feel that his father was now standing next to him- looking down at him with heavy concern. But, the purple clad turtle didn't have it in him to even look up at his teacher. He stared hard at his feet, tears hot and threating- aching to spill over the edge in a free fall. He sniffed out harshly and brought his hand up to his face- roughly wiping his nose- anger rising in his chest and feeling the intensified burn as he swallowed.

Without saying a word, Master Splinter placed his gentle hand on top of his kindhearted son's shoulder, squeezing it firmly, letting him know from that simple touch alone, that some things were beyond their control, and in that waking moment, Donnie finally allowed his tears to fall; one right after the other- leaving moisten entrails and imprints into his plum tinted mask as they fell; relieved that his father did not blame him nor thought of him as any less of a son among his three other brothers.

He understood; undeniably forgiven. For Donatello had nothing to be forgiven for.

Letting Donatello's shoulder go, the once human elder then flickered his gaze onto his more passionate son, Raphael; noticing the large, polyester material that clung to his plastron; he instinctively inhaled sharply at the sight, causing the turtle in red to jump automatically, clenching the bulky blue clump even closer to his center.

Sighing, due to letting his emotions get the best of him, Master Splinter quickly retracted himself and tenderly placed his paw upon Raphael's bicep, telling him silently, that everything was going to be all right- willing him to release the grip he had on the bundle in his arms.

Raphael had no choice but to comply, knowing full well that his father must have already figured it out with who it was that splayed in his grasp the whole entire time they had been standing there, and he snorted inwardly at the thought, wondering why it was taking the old man so damn long to get to the point. It's not like they had all of the time in the world to sort it all out. April needed help.

Splinter arched a brow as his son exhaled, the breeze from his snort whisking the short brown hairs attached to his face in a small, flittering whirlwind.

Simply ignoring the short outburst from his more complicated student, he edged on, and carefully removed the top half of the faded blue sheath from April's hidden face, and when he allowed himself to peek in, the somber expression he had been holding up quite well -until now- fell hard. Prepared as he usually was, no amount of meditation, or, self-control could suppress the sadness that was now filling up inside of his beating heart; his eyes began to naturally gloss over as his chest voluntarily tightened. Slowly, he pulled himself away- hanging his head in remorse at his shoulders.

"Are the rest of you unharmed?" Splinter forcefully whispered- furrowing his brow together and shifting his ears slightly forward to better hear their reply.

"Yes, Sensei." They all vocalized in unison. Donnie was the only one who didn't voice his answer outright; he barely shook his head in acknowledgement; his eyes were still piercing at his feet with an icy glare- his mind wavering heavily elsewhere.

"Good." Their Sensei nodded in comfort, pausing for a brief moment before he continued. "Then, I'm also assuming that I shouldn't have to remind you- that April will be our first priority above anything else- correct?" At this, Splinter couldn't help but muster up the tiniest little grin. Donnie, out of them all, vocalized his answer the loudest, showing his father that he still had the determination to make things right. Whether he could come up with a solution for some fathomable and absolute healing toward his redheaded friend remained to be unseen. He was just happy knowing that Donatello was trying his best to come to terms with his own heart. It would take some time; with as many days of meditation of course, but he was quite confident that his more sensitive son would become whole again once more.

"Oh, and one more thing." Their master wheeled on his heels before leaving the room and heading toward his quarters- his eyes squarely on Donnie. "Once you have made absolutely sure that April will be all right- I wish to speak with you."

It wasn't a request, and the purple clad turtle held his head high as he finally looked point blank at his father face, nodding in silent agreement.

The four brothers took their father's last words as their departing cue and they all scattered and scurried themselves over to Donnie's lab- with Raphael grunting and swearing obscenities along the way. April wasn't some delicate, weightless flower anymore and she was starting to severely strain the muscles in his arms and he almost dropped her.

…twice.

In the lab, machines were setting off high-pitched annoyances throughout the room, April, at that point, had been embarrassingly tied to tubes, poked and prodded for blood samples, and mercilessly evaluated- mainly by Donatello, his other three brothers willingly helped when their assistance was heavily needed, and the genius- out of the four them- felt more than internally grateful for their valiant efforts.

He would be utterly lost without them and he knew it.

"So's anything changed?" Came a booming, rustic voice, its ruff and deep sound forced Donnie to look away from the monitors for a split second. He hated that his attention had been drawn away from it. Michelangelo had followed his hotheaded brother in as well; stuffing his face with his famous pizza enchiladas- his favorite.

Donatello stared on in disgust at the sight of his little brother; sauce was dripping profusely from his mouth- oozing out like an angry cow with a horrible case of the rabies- and- as if that wasn't enough of a gag factor, the younger turtle then proceeded to gently slide his slimy, orange covered tongue out, slowly swinging it shamelessly around the edges of his lips, making a loud, suckling 'smacking' sound- followed by a low groan of intoxicating delight.

Donnie shook his head and let out a short, curdled snort in response to Mikey's _less than desirable_ eating habits and the only way he was _ever_ going to erase such a nauseating scene from his mind, was getting himself back on task by answering Raphael's inquiring question about April.

"For the hundredth time- and it seems like I can't stress this enough right now" He said with exasperation._ "__**No**_. Nothing's changed." He sighed heavily once more as his brown orbs flitted away from his insufferable brothers by heading back over to the monitors- jotting down vigorously, of whatever information his medical contraption was giving him at the moment, into his thick black, note pad.

"Look-" Donnie continued, shutting his book a little more harsher than normal as he stood- the chair he sat in floated away carelessly across the room from the force of his legs pushing against it. "I'd love to sit here all night and discuss every minor detail about April's progress- every two seconds- but I have an appointment to keep."

Two pairs of wide eyes watched intently as Donatello's sulking form exited the lab. "Man…" The freckled face turtle mumbled as he scratched his head in obvious confusion toward his smarter brother's outburst. "What's eatin' him?"

Raphael had turned toward Mikey at the sound of his lips smacking joyously together- his jaw dropping and sporting the same exact look of disgust that Donnie had on his face a few minutes prior, and he huffed in disbelief under his breath.

"Ugh." The turtle in red grumbled out, his top lip drifting upwards. "Hopefully not _you_- thank god Donnie isn't a freakin' wet burrito or somethin'- I mean, Jesus, Mikey, look at ya, you're goddamn mess."

Michelangelo smiled wide, the sticky sauce on his face had grown over twice it's size from his overzealous grin- his teeth lying bare for all to see. "Mmmmm…." He murmured as he leaned back dreamily upon Donnie's work desk- his baby blue pools closing only half of the way as his hand rose to the occasion by rubbing his tummy in a food induced lust. "Es-dorritos un-taco-bell, ellen-nachos- dos'Borri-tos." And adding to the flair of such an occasion, Mikey then peaked and pinched his thumb and pointer finger together ever so slightly- dramatically puckering his lips and kissing high into the air- like the Italians do after making an extravagant meal for their family.

Raphael's brow lifted at his freckle-faced companion- completely dumbfounded. "We should've just traded ya' in for a dog." He mumbled bitterly as he lowered his head in disappointment at his little brother's awful attempt at Spanish.

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><p><em><strong>To be continued….<strong>_

_**I hope you enjoyed! Please leave me a sweet little review!**_

_**The Spoon :D**_


	3. Rivers

_**Mutation Part 3:**_

_**The "kids" in this fic are all in their early twenties.**_

_**I also want to thank these particular readers for reviewing so far! Thank you! I hope you continue to come back and read more chapters of this story!**_

_**'**aangismyhomie'_

_'Guest' ~ anonymous reviewer. _

_'CoolButRude'_

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><p>Knocking didn't do any good. Before his green hand had even touched the decorative door, his mentor encouraged him inside with a 'come in'. Donatello disliked that aspect of his master most of the time. It made it so much harder for him to be able to change his already clouded mind, to just make a solid run for it, if and when he decided that <em>that <em>was what he wanted to do.

Sometimes, even now, it was exactly what he wanted to do; to hide, to bury himself in a deep hole right in the very center of the earth to live out his final days in confinement. Maybe, and this was just wishful thinking on his part, that an unbearable amount of flaming hot, molten lava would eventually flow forth and conveniently find its way to him; justly burning him alive. Because in theory, it could happen if you were to actually dig yourself there and he felt, at the very least, he rightly deserved that much.

Of course, it wasn't particularly practical, scientifically speaking, or even plausible, but Donatello felt he had officially earned himself the worst punishment available and this scenario seemed far more of a worthy one in his mind.

Logically though, he would have to come up with an idea that held some form of reality to it eventually.

Donatello took in one last deep breath and forcefully moved himself forward, and with a very reluctant eerie creak, he slowly pushed the door open to his father's quarters, his eyes quickly catching a flicker of a dimmed light as his master's hand drifted away from a freshly lit candle.

He quietly strolled over to the center of Splinter's room and sat in his usual meditative squat, hesitant as he was, waiting for his father to finish lighting each and every candle. This however, didn't calm his nerves, not in the slightest. If anything, the longing for this discussion to be over with before it could begin loomed heavily around him, accompanying with it, more uncertainty and emotional turmoil and unfortunately, it had left his hands shaking in its wake from the thought of it all. Donatello rushed to flatten his dampened palms along his thighs to hide it, keeping himself as silent and still as he possibly could.

Splinter's delicate touch hovered effortlessly over every candle stick, each glowing and sparkling in a delightful dance, pushing away the darkness to the farthest corners of his room, and once he had finished with the task of igniting them thoroughly, only then did he allow himself to rotate his focus toward his son; shifting his head slightly so that his eyes peered just around the corner of his lengthy snout.

The boy looked absolutely terrified.

Without a single word spoken, Splinter again twisted his head back to the enshrouded wax that was previously lit; simply letting out a small and gentle sniff, which signaled to Donatello that the conversation he had been dreading since the accident occurred was about to begin and his heart felt, at that moment, like it was being violently ripped out from his already tightening plastron.

He couldn't help but allow the strained quiet in the room consume him. He did try to recollect his nerves, but Donatello knew he had to speak up first, to get whatever he was going through off of his chest. He couldn't take the awkward silence his father was offering in hopes of calming him before they started to chat about today's events and the lessons learned from it. He desperately wanted to make the jitters his body was producing to stop and meditating while Master Splinter did his ritual candle warming wasn't working for him this time around.

"M-master Splinter, if I could just say -"

"Life- is like a river." Master Splinter interrupted, the focus of his red, tinted orbs continued to linger along the flaming wax as he spoke. He could feel Donatello cringe as he carried on with one of his more _familiar _opening statements and it caused him to smile inwardly. "And it's always-"

"Forever changing, forever in motion. I know." Donatello hung his head and his pebbled lips pursed into a thin line. Almost every conversation with Splinter began this way it seemed. Especially when it came to life changing circumstances. Donatello knew that this situation, from his father's point of view, was no different to him than any of their other dramatic escapades they've encountered over the years and he began to get irritated, even more frustrated with his mentor's repetitive discussions. Because this time, the situation was in fact different from all the rest- even more damaging for everyone involved; physically and emotionally.

"Yes." The once human ninja nodded gently, putting his hands behind his back and clasping them together –turning- as he took a small step forward. "But one must believe in it too and not just mimic the phrasing of such wise words." Donatello made a move to protest that he did, but his father brought up a paw to silence him. "Saying it and believing it have two completely different meanings and you, my son, are the furthest away in providing me with proof that you fully comprehend and understand."

"But I do understand, Sensei." Donatello countered in defense and he felt the oncoming sting of tears beginning to swell up behind his eyes. "I- I do." He sighed, a little less convincing that time.

"No." Stated Splinter, the simplicity in which he spoke held a firm sense of finality to it and it cause Donatello to cringe slightly once again. "If you honestly believed with what I've said in the past and in the present as truth; you wouldn't have any misfortunes of excepting everything that has transpired over the last few hours with Miss O'neil." Splinter's brow furrowed at Donatello's pained expression. "As it should be- an unfortunate and terrible accident."

At this, the purple clad turtle busted out a low, blistering grunt in disapproval of his father's words. Splinter simply ignored it, only the whiskers flittering along his face providing any prior knowledge that he had the tiniest amount of irritation toward his son's short and seething outburst and continued, "Instead, I see that you choose to continuously blame yourself for actions that are beyond your control; especially when you know how dangerous and forever-changing our lives can be." a short pause. "Like the river."

Donatello's breathing became dangerously heavy and shallow. His father was wrong. Nothing Master Splinter had said was making any damn sense. He wasn't there. His sensei didn't see how April looked at him as she fell into a cylinder of ooze, despair, sadness and fear, that utter and raw fear which flowed from her face as she went down. Her only lifeline being him and it broke. In seconds it shattered and he felt he had let her down. Of all the things he could possibly do to hurt her, it was this horrible and disgusting thing called betrayal; she trusted him with her life and in an instant, he ruined everything; the unwavering trust they had with each other.

"You're wrong." Donatello whispered, clenching his jaw tightly together, trying his best to keep his anger at bay, but failing. "Nothing about this is as simple as you say it is, Sensei. Nothing you've just said is making any sense." His voice began to rise along with his feet from the floor- fiery brown eyes meeting relaxed red ones, and yet, his master stood unmoving, void of emotion. "You didn't see how she looked at me. Y-you didn't see the trust she had in me to catch her leave her face!"

Splinter's heart ached at his son's pain and finally his expression showed it. But that didn't detour Donatello from creeping right up into his father's space in deeper grief, tears falling effortlessly along his peppered cheeks. "I ruin everything that I touch." A shallow breath made its way through his green tinted lips. "You'd think that I… that I'd _learn_ by now that no matter how hard I try, no matter how hard I _work _to make things right, it always seems to find a way to blow up in my face!" His arms spread outward, "I'm- I'm practically useless!"

"It _is_ that simple, my son." Splinter's interruption came out raspy, old sounding and tired, and he began to reach an arm out to the boy in comfort, but Donatello abruptly pulled away. The muscle in Splinter's chest paced rapidly as he tried to calm his more genius of a student down, hoping that his own emotions were hidden enough to not falter his more collected stature. Donatello, after all, needed a calm voice of reason.

"And this is not your doing; blaming yourself-"

"No, I can't… I- I won't_ ever _except that, because _all_ of it _is_ my fault!" Donatello then did the unthinkable and violently pushed his father to the ground in a fit of blinding rage, something that the calmer and more collected turtle (out of them all) would never possess the power to do to his master, his father. But his broad arms had seemed to be carrying a vengeful mind of their own that day and leather had smashed into fur, and so, the wiser mutant collapsed from the impact; completely unprepared onto his backside, his feet fell high into the air as he quickly descended downward with a loud 'thud'; a low, grumbling huff left his chiseled teeth in surprise from hitting the firm, cold concrete below. Seconds had passed before Splinter shifted himself upright, looking on, flabbergasted at his student, his lips parting and panting, and confusion clouding his vision. Splinter had been rendered speechless toward his son's bold move.

The purple clad turtle stood like stone; wide-eyed at his father. His inner turmoil forgotten in seconds and his jaw wasted no time by dropping to his toes in shock; his throat began letting go of a chortled squeak from the depths of his stomach in shame from what he had just done to his sensei.

It was incomprehensible.

"Master Splinter… I- I didn't mean", and that was it, Donatello completely lost himself and he too had made his way to the cool floor, sitting mere inches away from his beloved mentor. "I'm sorry... " He whispered over and over again, choking back the sobs that tried to fill the quiet air around them.

Without a word, his father was right there, instantly beside him, wrapping his loving arms tightly around his son's leathered shoulders in a fierce and powerful embrace, his eyes soft with understanding. Donatello tilted his head and turned his hazy filled gaze at his sensei, leaning into his father as if his life depended on it, needing it to survive. Breaths were leaving his chest in heavy and dense waves which encouraged Splinter to hold onto him even tighter, tears threating to fall from his own eyes by seeing and knowing with how much pain and confusion his child was actually in.

"I forgive you." Master Splinter finally said, gently squeezing his now older, purple masked child even tighter to his chest and the boy could suddenly feel his father's heart skip a beat in sadness for him. "And I know, that in time, April will forgive you too."

"H- how can you be so sure?" Donatello lifted up a hand to wipe his beak, sniffling as he did. "She's," a heavy sigh, "she's going to hate me forever. I just know it."

At this, both ninjas slowly removed themselves up from the floor, and Master Splinter raised both of his hands upon Donatello's shoulders, forcing his student to look at him. "It will take time." Splinter repeated, peering into the depths of his son's auburn orbs. "She will need a friend who is most patient and understanding." Donatello lowered his head, staring at his feet. "I know you doubt yourself now. But I also know you are the best one suited for this challenging task."

"I- I don't know if I can." The purple clad turtle breathed in a shaky breath, fear grasping at his insides once more. "What if I screw this up too- making everything worse?"

Splinter turned his head to the side in thought, "I'd be lying if I told you that this particular situation would be easy," he huffed. "Patience will surely be tested, tempers from us all will definitely rise from time to time," He took a moment to peer back into the one in purple's eyes, he needed Donatello to come to terms with what was bound to happen eventually. "And yes… even the deepest of feelings will get hurt." Donatello lowered his gaze right then, his chest pounding wildly in his ears. Splinter smiled tenderly with a hint of sadness, his eyes twinkling in grief for his child, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his genius of a son would be able to handle this. "Remember, mistakes are made by many everyday, Donatello. The difference is that one must learn from it; allowing themselves to grow, to become even wiser for it."

Donnie shrugged a little, causing Splinter's paws to drop carelessly at his sides. Right now he felt as if all of his confidence had been completely wiped out, 'extinct' for the lack of a better word. Nothing Donnie could ever say or do would prepare him for what the future had in store for him. What if April did in fact hate him? Would she eventually forgive him? Master Splinter seemed quite confident that she would, although, uncertain himself as to how long.

"'D'"! Without warning the door to Master Splinter's quarters flew open with a loud 'bang'. Michelangelo's blue eyes were about the size of two oceans colliding. The monitors in Donatello's lab were screaming and whaling, piercing the ears of those it touched in its path.

"April." Donnie croaked as his skin began turning into a sickly, pale green. The sporadic ringing and echoing from within the lair had meant only one thing and he didn't hesitate running toward his lab with Mikey and Master Splinter in toe.

He just hoped to all that was holy, that April's mutated heart hadn't stopped beating.

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Authors note:<span> I'm hoping that I'll get more readers/reviewers into this story. I'm not one to dwell on telling a drabble that doesn't seem to catch the fan's interests, so, if this tale isn't really your guy's thing, I'll totally understand! ;) I'm crossing my fingers that I can continue on with it, though. But, if it's boring, or not interesting, I won't be hurt over it. It's all Trial and error with me. Lol! **_

_**As always, thanks for at least taking the time to read my little ficlets. **_

_**The Spoon. **_


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